The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a crimping tool for nonmetallic tubing, and in particular to a crimping tool capable of crimping a plurality of different size rings.
Crimping tools are provided in a wide variety of configurations to accommodate various components, such as ring members to be clamped about plastic pipes or other fittings for sealing components together. Although substantial forces are required to crimp a ring member in the desired position, most crimping tools are constructed in a manner which provides adequate mechanical advantage to enable the tool jaws to impart the desired amount of force to the ring members.
Crimping tools may be used with a wide variety of pipes and fittings. In a typical application, such in a residential plumbing system for example, these pipes and fittings may come in two or three different sizes, such as ⅜″, ½″, or ¾″ for example. These types of applications resulted in the user needing to carry multiple tools to the job site to accommodate each of the different size ring members. Alternatively, some crimping tools include interchangeable dies that allow a single tool to crimp multiple size rings.
It should be appreciated that the crimped connection is typically checked by the user to ensure it has been properly formed. To do this, the user may carry a gage, such as go/no-go type gage for example, that allows the user to measure the crimped connection. Thus the user needs to carry additional tools and a gage to the job site.
Accordingly, while existing crimping tools are suitable for their intended purposes the need for improvement remains, particularly in providing a compact tool capable of crimping a variety of sizes of ring members and determining whether a proper crimp has been formed.